SAIC Motor : Global Renowned Designer Jozef Kaban Joins SAIC Design

SAIC Motor announced on 22^nd of April, 2024 that Mr. Jozef Kaban, a globally renowned automotive designer, creator of the Bugatti Veyron supercar, former Audi exterior chief designer, and former design director of top automotive brands such as Skoda, BMW, Rolls Royce, and Volkswagen, has officially joined SAIC Motor as the Global Design Vice President of design center at the SAIC Motor R&D Innovation Headquarter (SRIH) and responsible for the advanced creativity and product design works of SRIH's full array automotive brands.

SAIC Motor President Wang Xiaoqiu Welcomes Jozef Kaban to Join the SAIC Design

SAIC Motor is a leading automotive publicly listed company in China. It has maintained the top position in both vehicle production and sales for 18 consecutive years. In 2023, SAIC's overseas sales reached 1.208 million units, leading Chinese automotive companies for eight consecutive years and contributing to China's surpassing Japan to become the world's largest vehicle exporter. The global sales of SAIC's MG brand exceeded 840,000 units, which helped it secure the title of China's top single-brand overseas sales champion for the fifth consecutive year.

Aiming at the overarching trend of "data-driven experience, software-defined automobiles" industry transformation, SAIC Motor is comprehensively integrating its five major information technology centers (software, AI, big data, cloud computing, and cybersecurity), passenger vehicle technology center, overseas innovation center, and other advantageous resources to establish the SRIH. SRIH will house a talent pool of over ten thousand individuals dedicated to independent research and development. SAIC DESIGN, affiliated with the SRIH, undertakes the important task of automotive design for SAIC Motor's independent brands. With over a decade of development, it has grown into one of the most significant forces in China's automotive design field and was officially recognized as a national-level industrial design center in 2021. Currently, SAIC DESIGN oversees the Shanghai Anting Global Design Center, London, and Tokyo Forward-looking Design Centers, with an international design team of over 300 people. Leveraging advanced and comprehensive software and hardware equipment, as well as outstanding design capabilities, the center has repeatedly won international design awards for its developed products.

2024 is the 100th anniversary of MG brand, which makes Jozef Kaban's joining of SAIC Motor even more significant. It will greatly enhance SAIC Motor's design competitiveness and internationalization level, provide better car models for global automotive consumers, and accelerate SAIC Motor's entry into the global market.

Jozef Kaban, a world-renowned automotive design master, graduated from the Royal College of Art in London with a major in transportation design in 1997. He later joined Volkswagen group in Germany to showcase his design talent. At the age of only 25, Jozef Kaban worked on the Bugatti Veyron supercar project and designed the exterior and interior of the all-new Veyron, causing a huge sensation in the global automotive industry. He was known as the most talented automotive design genius of the early 21st century. Jozef Kaban has outstanding design talent and has served as the chief designer of Audi's exterior design, as well as the design leader of world-class brands such as Skoda, BMW, Rolls Royce, and Volkswagen.

Jozef Kaban possesses the design strategic planning ability and business thinking of a "Giant Co Engine", and has extracted valuable experience in reshaping and upgrading the design language of luxury car brands. His forward-thinking automotive product designs have garnered enthusiastic market response and commercial success. His advanced ideas and rapid design iterations will be beneficial for SAIC Motor to stand out in new energy era.

Jozef Kaban's international perspective will help SAIC Motor enhance its design competitiveness in the global automotive markets and accelerate SAIC DESIGN's transformation into a world-class automotive design team.

Jozef Kaban expressed, "SAIC Motor is a globally renowned and largest automotive group in China. I am very much looking forward to working at SAIC DESIGN, I hope to embark on a new era of automotive design in this fertile land of the East and achieve success!"